Bridgerton’s Hannah Dodd and Masali Baduza Break Down the Current State of Francesca and Michaela’s Relationship

Emily BurackSat, February 28, 2026 at 4:00 PM UTC

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Hannah Dodd & Masali Baduza on Bridgerton S4 Netflix

Spoilers ahead for Bridgerton season four.

As Benedict and Sophie barreled towards their happily ever after at the end of Bridgerton season four, Francesca and Michaela were left in a much more complicated situation following John’s death. Francesca (Hannah Dodd) asks Michaela (Masali Baduza) to stay in London, and Michaela agrees, but soon after, we see her leaving the Stirling home without saying goodbye to Francesca.

Francesca is devastated over Michaela’s departure, and that hurt—and their complicated feelings for one another—will undeniably shape their characters’ storyline when Bridgerton returns in season five. Victor Alli, who plays John, says Dodd and Baduza are “just two incredibly talented actresses.” He adds, “I’ve had the joy to experience their work and their process, and I keep them saying to them, ‘Guys, you really could give me my performance. Without you, I would not be here.’ They’re amazing, and they’re amazing to be around and I can’t wait for what’s to come.”

In a conversation with Town & Country, Dodd and Baduza reflect on filming the emotional finale, unpack Michaela’s decision to walk away, and tease what healing (and groveling) might look like for their characters in Bridgerton season five.

How do you view the evolution of Michaela and Francesca’s relationship in these final four episodes?

The two women become friends, thawing their frosty relationship. Netflix

Masali Baduza: They go on a journey. It’s really special to get to see where they start in episode four and when they end up in episode eight. It’s just up, down, left, right. It’s really special that we get to see them find a common ground and a commonality in [episode] five. It’s taken a while to get there, but I’m glad that they finally made it, and I think it’s really special for John to see that that the girls are all right.

Hannah Dodd: John becomes what connects them as well, which is really special. But when two people are so opposite, it can be quite a confronting feeling at first, especially when you love someone, it’s like, “Why you like this?” It’s nice to see the opposite of that—it brings out things that you need help with, and I think they do that for each other.

In the final moments of season four, Michaela leaves the Stirling home. Masali, why do you think she left?

HD [to Masali]: What is she thinking?

MB: What is going on with baby girl? It’s just all a bit much for her. She’s one of those people where the emotions are just, they’re too much. She can’t handle them. I think Michaela is very used to pushing her emotions down, emotions that she’s not really comfortable with. She wants to just see lightness and happiness all the time, every time, because she’s going through so much internal struggle. When she can’t do that, physically, she just has to get away. [To Hannah] You said something so special earlier: I think that Francesca is demanding a lot from Michaela in this moment, and Michaela’s just like, “I’m feeling overwhelmed. I can’t do this. I can’t even face my own emotions. I cannot help you. So sorry.” It would’ve been great if she said something to her—

HD: It would’ve been lovely.

MB: It would’ve been sensational if she was like, “Babe, I’ll be right back.” It’s just overwhelming for her. She can’t take it.

Hannah, what do you think is going through Francesca’s mind when she learns that Michaela has left?

Michaela by Francesca’s side at John’s funeral. Netflix

HD: Fran’s already devastated. She sees Michaela as a source of strength and she’s relying on her—that’s how she’s going to survive this. So, for that source of strength to leave as well, I think she’s like, “Well, I don’t know what I’m going to do now.” Luckily, she has a very beautiful, supportive family, but I do think she sees Michaela as the only other person who truly knew John, so will truly understand how this feels, and I think she felt a really nice connection between the two of them because of that. And so for that to be ripped away from her—after everything else—is devastating.

When you two are doing scenes together, especially this season, are you thinking about what’s to come for your characters and the love story that’s going to unfold?

HD: I dunno. It’s tricky. You never really know what the writers are going to come up with, and you don’t want to play something that the characters aren’t necessarily aware of, but it’s always in the back of your mind. You want to make sure that you do justice to these characters and their chemistry, but we don’t know where we’re going to go completely. So you don’t want to make any decisions that confuse the storyline or anything.

MB: Being present, I think, is all you can be, because like you said, you don’t know what can happen in the future. We have thoughts and ideas [laughs], but you just have to play what’s happening right now.

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Francesca leans on Michaela for support in the wake of John’s death. NetflixDo you believe in second chances? Will Francesca and Michaela be able to mend their relationship?

HD: I hope so. Out of a situation like that, everybody’s got to give each other a lot of grace. We all deal with heavy situations like that differently, and there’s no right way to grieve. Hopefully, there can be forgiveness on both parts as well, and understanding that everybody’s in pain and we’re not always our best selves when we’re in pain. There’s a lot going on, so I hope that there’s some grace, but I also hope that Francesca doesn’t bend over backwards. I hope that there’s… [to Masali] You hurt her!

MB: Yeah. Michaela’s got some groveling to do for sure, for sure.

HD: But also, I think Francesca has to understand that you are also in pain.

MB: Yeah, I hope they come to that understanding, too.

Do you believe in the concept of soulmates?

MB: Oh, absolutely. You also can have platonic soulmates, romantic, familial. One of my favorite movies is Past Lives, and I really do think that we’ve all met the people that we love in this life and past lives. We’re all connected to the human history.

What do you hope that viewers take from Francesca and Michaela’s story this season before season five?

Dodd, Alli, and Baduza in a scene from season four. Netflix

HD: That opposites… tension can sometimes represent a mirror, and they definitely have qualities and elements that each other are craving and need support with in their life, and it can, opposition can create balance, but it takes some work to get there and some time and some patience with each other. We only experience what it’s like to be ourselves, so it can take a little bit of patience to work out why people are the way they are and what you need. You have to have the bravery to look inside and be like, “Yeah, I need help with that, and you’ve got that.”

MB: Sometimes really good friendships take time to build, and that’s the really important thing to take away: A good foundation takes time. I hope people take away that not everything has to be instant and happily ever after, immediately. We can get there, we can learn, we can grow together, fail together.

What do you hope to explore with the two of them in season five?

MB: I hope that they’re able to, well, firstly mend from the situation—

HD: We need to be talking! We’d like to chat.

MB: And just get together again. This grief is going to carry on with them for the rest of their lives…

HD: Rock them.

MB: Yeah. I would love to see them get to a place where they at least can be in the same room together and forgiveness can occur.

HD: They’ve both got a lot of work to do on themselves. I’d love to see them working themselves out so that they can also work out who they are as friends, but [whispers] who knows? Exciting!

Bridgerton season four is now streaming on Netflix. Watch now

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